Schools in Pune to stay open, don’t believe in rumours, say civic officials

The clarification came in view of the confusion among students and parents as three schools at Sinhgad road in the city declared holiday

The state government has clarified that as of now there is no need to shut down schools in view of Covid-19 (coronavirus) though situation will be reviewed if more positive cases are reported.

The state government has clarified that as of now there is no need to shut down schools in view of Covid-19 (coronavirus) though situation will be reviewed if more positive cases are reported. (HT PHOTO)

Rajesh Tope, state health minister, on Thursday, said, “As of now there are no plans to shut down schools in the city.”

The clarification came in view of the confusion among students and parents as three schools at Sinhgad road in the city declared holiday till Saturday after five persons were reported positive for Covid-19 on Monday.

The Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram said some schools have declared holiday on their own even as the administration has not taken any such decision yet.

Ram said, “Eight positive cases have been reported in the city till Wednesday, so we do not feel the need to issue any such order as of now. As the situation progresses we will take a call.”

Ram clarified that parents and students should not believe in rumours.

Divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaiskar, said, “The decision to shut down schools can be taken only by the state government after review of the situation.The district administration hasn’t taken a call on this yet.”

In view of positive cases of Covid-19 being reported in the city, the Women’s Studies Centre of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has changed the venue of the annual two-day conference ‘Chikitsa’ that is scheduled to begin on Thursday. The event that was previously scheduled to take place at the department of education and extension, SPPU, which will now be conducted at the centre’s classrooms, a university official said.